Key management prevents theft at crane supplier

UK crane supplier chooses key cabinet system from Traka after trial installation that helped to prevent a theft at the company

Traka has installed intelligent key cabinets at King Lifting, a UK supplier of lifting equipment and cranes, preventing a theft that could have cost thousands of pounds.

King Lifting installed the key cabinet under a trial period and it was during this time that the attempted theft occurred.

Previously, the crane hire company had used a traditional key cabinet, however this provided no means of tracking the whereabouts of each key, resulting in key losses and occasionally employees leaving the building with a key in their pocket. The consequences of such actions could cause thousands of pounds of operational time losses and replacement costs.

James Anstey, the Workshop Manager at King Lifting, instigated the installation of Traka due to previous experience using the key management system.

James Anstey said: “I knew the individual tracing and accountability capabilities that key management provided, but I needed to convince the board to invest. Traka kindly let us trial a system and after the protection during the attempted theft, there wasn’t even a hesitation about installing it permanently.”

A key cabinet was installed by Traka to implement usage rights for the vehicles. Through the intelligent software, King Lifting has been able to control which drivers can access specific keys to vehicles, so if a driver is not authorised to operate a certain vehicle, the key cannot be removed from the cabinet.

Unaccountability of damages can also occur within vehicle hire services, which could result in a potential threat to health and safety and lead to expensive repairs. Traka’s iFobs can be provided to vehicle leasers on a temporary basis and will trace, when the key was taken, by whom and when it was returned; this is done via the system’s logging automation.

Through the implementation of Traka, responsibly has now been placed on individuals and health and safety risks have been reduced. James Anstey commented further: “Traka eliminates a blame culture and places accountability on the key holder. Should a situation arise where the keyholder gives the key to an unauthorised person, this can be traced and they will be held responsible.”

Traka has been installed in our three main sites now and we have found each of the Operational Managers on these sites value its time and cost saving abilities.”

King Lifting is a perfect example of how new key management technology can be utilised to ensure a safe and secure working environment.